Obstacles Galore
by savedprincess85
Summary: Written for Round 8 of QL. Tonks has to be released for work from her healer. But the day doesn't go as planned by any stretch of the imagination.


Round 8

CHASER 2: Three of Wands — Upright: Looking Ahead, Expansion, Rapid Growth, Reversed: Obstacles, Delays, Frustration

Bonus Prompts:

Action: To spill something/knock something over

Quote: "That is such a bizarre request I have to agree to it." — The Princess Bride, William Goldman

Location: St Mungo's

I'm choosing the Reversed part of the card: obstacles delays, and frustration.

Also, for this fic, Shacklebolt is Tonks' supervisor. After Moody, it isn't really specified. It's not super important but thought it might be a necessary to note.

Word Count without A/N: 2359

Nymphadora Tonks tripped from the floo into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries lobby and dusted off the soot from her shoulders. Looking around, she noticed that the entire lobby was full, not a single empty seat in sight.

Ever since the duel in the Department of Mysteries, she had been flooded with anxiety. Seeing children dueling with full grown Death Eaters and her cousin falling through the veil had wrecked her. It didn't help that she was cursed by Bellatrix Lestrange and had to spend a week in St. Mungo's.

Then to top all of that off, she hadn't heard from Remus in two weeks. Dumbledore had sent him on a stupid mission, to the damn werewolves. He couldn't receive mail there as it would likely put him in danger.

During the battle in the Department of Mysteries, she had seen a fierce side of Remus Lupin that was decidedly attractive to her. But he refused to entertain any sort of relationship more than platonic, stating it was just too dangerous. His eyes gave him away though; he wanted to date her but refused. His excuses were that he was a werewolf thus a danger, and he was just too old for her. She felt they were legitimate excuses, but she didn't care about his age. The werewolf aspect could be controlled with Wolfsbane Potion.

She had been informed upon returning to work at the Auror Corps, that she would need to be released for work out in the field. Shacklebolt had told her, in no uncertain terms, that she needed to speak with a mind healer about her anxiety and depression. She didn't want too though. It was unnecessary; she could be strong on her own. Tonks knew she was depressed and anxious, but she didn't think talking to someone would change that.

Tonks walked up to the Welcome Witch and asked, "I'm here to see my mind healer. I need a signature stating I can return to full duty."

The witch's voice was nasally when she stated, without looking up, "Fourth floor. Check in with the receptionist there."

With a sigh, Tonks nodded and walked to the elevator. It took the elevator arriving and leaving twelve times for the queue in front of it to allow her to enter the lift. Today was an incredibly busy day for St. Mungo's. She wondered what could have possibly happened to have so many people at the hospital.

The ride up to the fourth floor was grueling. The elevator stopped at every floor, with people emptying and loading it up in turn. She groaned in frustration. If she had known this was what awaited her return to work, she would have just taken an extra day off.

Finally, she reached the fourth floor and checked in there, repeating what she had said before. She noticed the Janice Thickey Ward's door was opened with medi-witches entering and exiting with patients.

"Have a seat in the lobby down the hall on your left. Your healer will be with you shortly." The receptionist stated disinterestedly. Tonks frowned at the boredom shown to her. Weren't the receptionists supposed to be friendly and cheerful? So far, this one had seemed dismissive.

She walked to the lobby and tripped over someone's bag. She offered an apology as she sat in the only empty chair next to a familiar face that she couldn't quite place. The man she sat next to had wavy golden hair and a keen smile. He seemed a little lost though.

"Hello! I'm Gilderoy Lockhart. Or at least that is who everyone says I am. Are you one of my many fans?" The man asked loudly and flamboyantly.

Tonks starred in barely disguised disbelief. She remembered now; Harry had told her last summer about what had happened to this man in Harry's second year. She decided to play along with the man's obvious lack of self-awareness.

"Glad to meet you Mr. Lockhart. I believe you are rather well known. What brings you here today?" Tonks asked smiling kindly at the man.

His return grin was relieved, "Oh good, you do know who I am. Please tell me, what have I done to become famous? I have so many people, mostly women, who are writing me every week, and yet I don't know why. My healer allows me a few hours every week to sit out here and speak with people, in hopes to help my memory. But it really hasn't helped much I'm afraid." His face fell, sadness clouded his gaze.

"Why, you are an amazing Dark Arts fighter! But that isn't the least of it, you are beloved because of your smile!" She latched onto the one thing he could continue doing without forgetting.

Lockhart laughed heartily, "Yes, I do have a wonderful smile, don't I? I have some pictures here. Would you like my autograph? I'm still learning to do cursive, but I am getting much better, see?" He picked up the pile of pictures that sat on the table beside him. She hadn't noticed them when she sat down.

She frowned and looked around the room. Tonks realized she hadn't done her cursory sweep. She just assumed she was safe. Frustration filled her heart. She may not be ready to return to work if she couldn't even perform the simplest aspects of her job.

Lockhart was still sitting beside her though, pushing an autographed photo into her hands. "See, my cursive writing is much better than when Harry Potter visited me. Or at least that is what the healer says. Say! Do you know Harry Potter?" Lockhart asked her excitedly.

Tonks nodded, unsure of where this line of questioning would go. She looked at the clock. She had been speaking with Lockhart for fifteen minutes. Where was her mind healer?

"Wonderful! I have been trying to send him and his friends signed pictures of me. Mostly as a thank you for visiting. I don't remember the visit, but he is obviously a fan of mine. But the package keeps being returned, unopened. Do you think you can take a stack to him?" He asked her with a winning smile.

She couldn't help but smile in return. "He probably never received them. Last year there was some issues with the Hogwarts mail," she explained. She didn't want to explain about Umbridge and the Ministry's ridiculous rules about mail to a man more than likely to forget this conversation tomorrow.

"Wait here! I will be right back. Oh, I'm so glad I saw you today!" Lockhart stood up and ran through the door to the Janus Thickey Ward.

He was only gone a few moments, and returned with a box the size of a textbook and a cage with a purple pigmy puff inside. He sat the box and cage on her lap with a grin, "Please take the pictures to Harry Potter and tell him thank you from me for visiting me. Also, this is Frank. One of my fans sent him to me, but I don't like that he is in a cage. I'm not permitted to let him out, in case he gets free of my room. Can you set him free for me? Somewhere lovely would be nice."

_Well, that is such a bizarre request I have to agree to it,_ she thought as she nodded her head. The man who stood in front of her wilted in relief at her willingness to help him. _He must be lonely_, she thought. _What kind of life did he live, stuck in the hospital and never allowed to leave?_

"Mr. Lockhart, it's time for your lunch!" A portly medi-witch called from the door.

Lockhart turned and said, "Coming!" When he spun back around and packed up all the photos he had been practicing on. "Thank you for your help and your company, Miss..."

"Tonks. My name is Tonks."

"Miss Tonks. I hope to see you again one day. Give Harry Potter my best wishes." He walked to the medi-witch who smiled at Tonks kindly before speaking lowly but kindly to Lockhart.

Tonks waited another half hour, looking at the pygmy puff in her lap. She had already shrunk the box of photos down and placed them in her pocket. She didn't want to shrink the pet though. In all honesty, it was keeping her company. Once she had been waiting an hour, watching the people entering and exiting the waiting room, she gave up and went to speak with the receptionist again.

"Ma'am, I've been waiting for an hour. Do you know when the healer will be ready to see me?" Tonks asked kindly.

The receptionist didn't look up, but said sounding bored, "Your healer was called to an emergency. It will be at least another hour before he can see you."

Tonks huffed in frustration. "Can you tell me where the tearoom is?"

"Fifth floor."

Tonks walked to the elevator, and yet again, there was a queue. Thankfully, this one wasn't as long as the one of the first floor and only three elevators came and went before she could get on. She decided to find stairs when she came back down to this floor. It would surely be faster.

The tearoom was full to capacity, not a damn seat was empty. Holding her pygmy puff, she decided to go to the little gift shop she had noticed next door. Maybe they had something she could buy for a snack. At this point, Tonks was overwhelmed with the amount of people surrounding her and the delays she continued to experience. She just wanted to go home, set Frank free in her backyard, and enjoy watching him hop around for a bit.

Damn Remus for making her like him, fighting so fiercely for the light side, when he could easily choose to be on the other side. He was a loyal man. Her heart ached to spend more time with him, grow in a relationship with him. Tears filled her eyes and she wiped them away angrily, as she walked down the corridor to the gift shop. She _would not_ cry! Not over something as trivial as a man who refused to return her affections.

She flung the door to the gift shop open and stepped inside. It seemed she had finally found a place of quiet, until she turned too quickly, tripped over her own feet and fell into a display of caldron cakes and pumpkin pasties next to the door. Frank's cage flew from her hand, and she heard him squawk in protest. Tonks looked up to see the tower of sweets had also knocked over the display of quills, parchments, and notebooks for sale. She groaned to herself. She was so clumsy! Tears fell unstoppable from her eyes. The sales witch came up to her and instead of reprimanding her, which she had every right to do, she gently helped Tonks stand up.

"I'm so…" she hiccuped,_ "_…sorry. I'm so clumsy and this is just not my day," Tonks cried. She went to pick up Frank's cage and turned to help clean up the mess.

"That's ok, dearie. It just takes a wave of the wand to get it set to rights," the witch said kindly as she ushered Tonks to a quiet corner. The witch cast a quick spell and the disaster that Tonks had made was corrected. "See, dearie. Now, why don't you tell me what is going on. You said that today is not your day, what do you mean by that?"

Tonks wiped her eyes and took a shaky breath. "I'm here to get clearance to return to full duty at work. I'm an Auror, but after today, I don't think I'm ready to return to work. I need more time. Even if it is just a week or two more. The man I really like is in a dangerous situation, and I feel helpless. It's all too much. I haven't been talking to my healer as often as I should be, and I think that if I open up, I may be able to heal."

"Do you think that you will get to speak with your healer today?"

"That's why I'm here. But he's very busy today. I have been waiting for over an hour, and it seems I'll have to wait even longer. What is with the hospital today? It's busier than I have ever seen it," Tonks asked looking into the witches face.

The witch smiled gently and laid a hand on Tonks' shoulder. "Wait here a moment. I will fetch you a cup of tea." She stood and walked to the back room. Tonks looked around her and realized no one else had entered the little shop. She was appreciative of the witch's listening ear. It felt good to get her feelings off her chest.

Tonks stood up when she heard a throat clear behind her. "Nymphadora, I'm glad to see you here. You passed the test." Shacklebolt commented as he walked toward her.

"Test? What test? And you know I hate that name!" She reprimanded, frustrated.

"We knew you needed to speak with a healer but were hesitating for some reason. Knowing what you went through in the Department of Mysteries, it was paramount. Your biggest obstacle to your healing was yourself. Once you speak with your healer, you will be cleared for duty, but take as long as you need." Shacklebolt stated in his quiet manner.

"You created this elaborate day to get me to speak to a healer?" Tonks asked disbelieving.

He nodded. "You are one of our best Aurors. I am about to be positioned in the Muggle world as security detail. We need you to be in top form as soon as possible. Now, let me escort you to your healer."

"What about the shop lady? I need to tell her I appreciate her listening ear." Tonks asked turning to look at the back of the store.

"She knows, Tonks. Let's go."

Tonks pondered the woman's kindness. Maybe she would return after her appointment with her healer to thank her properly.


End file.
